“The New Mexico artist Paul Ré, perhaps best known for the remarkable embossings which addressed the sense of touch as well as that of sight, has ascended new heights with the publication of his long awaited volume THE DANCE OF THE PENCIL. An immaculately produced collection of Ré’s graceful imagery, it traces an extraordinary career in art from his early quasi-surrealist drawings to recent abstractions that are almost unearthly in the purity of their form.
Ré’s early works foreshadowed the haunting simplicity of design that was to become his hallmark. He integrates the aesthetic and the intellectual and uses art as a spiritual exercise. Ré writes, ‘My art is a kind of meditation. It is peaceful and pure; only the essence, no distracting or superfluous elements are presented. Its aim is to help quiet and uplift the viewer.'

THE DANCE OF THE PENCIL contains examples from every stage of Ré’s career...The 71 full-page plates give this book its enduring value as one of the outstanding art books of the year." Dennis WepmanJOURNAL OF THE PRINT WORLD

“He is a virtuoso of the pencil which he uses with incredible delicacy and refinement.”
Alfred FrankensteinSAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

“The pictures seem to have a rhythm in their grace, to dance upon the pages. They also have a rhyme, like poetry, calling up ethereal themes. Some are so graceful, so satisfying, they leave me breathless in wonder and awe-struck. This book is truly magnificent, a must for art devotees and those seeking a simpler, more serene life.”
Gwen RoathSTEPPIN' OUT

“I really like this work. I find it very peaceful and relaxing.”
Professor Richard Feynman
Physicist, Nobel Laureate
California Institute of Technology

“This volume should firmly establish Paul Ré as a national and world treasure.”
Fredrick Shair, Professor Emeritus
California Institute of Technology
Past National President of Sigma Xi

“I spent several hours viewing your drawings; they are sensitive and exhilarating...I expect many more hours of enjoyment.”
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Astrophysicist, Nobel Laureate
Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago

“Looking at its beautiful images has been providing me with a deep feeling of serenity and inner peace.”
Moustafa Chahine
Chief Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
from a letter to Paul Ré

“The book chronicles his body of work that grew from realism toward a search for the essential elements of form that make up a deer, bird, tree or human being. With a background in physics, Ré blends a love of nature with a precise sense of form. Elegant rhythms from the dance of life inform all of his works which are naturally graceful and tend to be crucibles of spiritual and intellectual discourse. His vision discovers balance and true understanding of the inherent order in the universe.”
Wesley PulkkaALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL

“The singular purity gives them a unique place in modern art...extraordinary sensitivity of their line and composition appealing with a haunting directness.”
Dennis WepmanCONTEMPORARY GRAPHIC ARTISTS

“...an imaginative, individual art that makes Ré an important influence...He is a genius.”
John Marlowe ARTWEST

“I shall treasure this book. It shows tremendous artistic creativity of a form I have not enjoyed before. I find I enjoy (your pictures) immensely and can study them for a long time, learning as each moment passes...I intend to keep the book on a table in my office so that people who believe Caltech turns out narrow and creative scientists only can see first hand what at least one of our students has done...The Institute is truly proud of you.”
Thomas E. Everhart
President Emeritus
California Institute of Technology
from a letter to Paul Ré

“...a suggestion of remoteness – in space and time – a poetic restraint and a graceful austerity.”
Cecile McCannARTWEEK

“Several of the plates took me back to 1978 when Jonson and I reviewed your exhibit at the Jonson Gallery. I can still remember Jonson’s exclamations of delight and my own echos of similar appreciation. Such fine work!”
Ed Garman
from a letter to Paul Ré

“I received the notice of your show, and thought the drawing on the front to be very nice. If you are passing through this area and have any of your other work with you I would be interested in seeing it. Luck to you.”
Georgia O’keeffe
from a letter to Paul Ré